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Seasonal feeding activity of the tree-hole tick, Ixodes arboricola

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2014

D. J. A. HEYLEN ,
A. R. VAN OOSTEN ,
N. DEVRIENDT ,
J. ELST ,
L. DE BRUYN  and
E. MATTHYSEN
D. J. A. HEYLEN*
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
A. R. VAN OOSTEN
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
N. DEVRIENDT
Affiliation:
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
J. ELST
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
L. DE BRUYN
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Kliniekstraat 25, 1070 Brussels, Belgium
E. MATTHYSEN
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
*
*Corresponding author: Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium. E-mail: Dieter.Heylen@uantwerpen.be
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Summary

Bird-specific ticks do not infest humans and livestock, but these ticks often share their avian hosts with generalist ticks that do. Therefore, their feeding activity may have an impact on the transmission of pathogens outside bird–tick transmission cycles. Here we examined the seasonal feeding activity of the tree-hole tick (Ixodes arboricola) in relation to the activity of its hole-breeding hosts (Parus major and Cyanistes caeruleus). We analysed data on ticks derived from birds, on the abundance of engorged ticks inside nest boxes, and on bird nests that were experimentally exposed to ticks. We observed a non-random pattern of feeding associated with the tick instar and host age. The majority of adult ticks fed on nestlings, while nymphs and larvae fed on both free-flying birds and nestlings. Due to their fast development, some ticks were able to feed twice within the same breeding season. The highest infestation rates in free-flying birds were found during the pre-breeding period and during autumn and winter when birds roost inside cavities. Except during winter, feeding of I. arboricola overlapped in time with the generalist Ixodes ricinus, implying that tick-borne microorganisms that are maintained by I. arboricola and birds could be bridged by I. ricinus to other hosts.

Keywords

Ixodes arboricolaIxodes ricinusphenologyBorreliaRickettsiaLyme borreliosis
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 141 , Issue 8 , July 2014 , pp. 1044 - 1051
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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